Venetian blind



Jan. 18, 1949.-

R. E. GEARHART VENETIAN BLIND Filed s ept. 4, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet. J.

Ja'n. 18, 1949.

VENETIAN BLIND Filed Sept. 4, 1944 INVENTOR, Egg/ir/a/'Z mfg/;

` E. GEARHART 2,459,517

Jan. 18, 1949. R; 'E' GEARHART 2,459,517

VENETIAN BLIND Filed Sept. 4, 1944 s shetssheet s Jay/@ 1N VEN TOR, @l @c7/795W.

Patented Jan. 18, 1949 2,459,517 VENETIAN BLIND Roy E. Gearhart, Kansas City, Mo.

Application September 4, 1944, Serial No.

8 Claims. (Cl. 160-115) This invention relates to improvements in Venetian blinds and has particular reference to a Venetian blind wherein a group of slats may be tilted independently of the position of tilt of the remaining slats of the blind.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a Venetian blind having means whereby all the slats below a predetermined intermediate slat may be tilted in either direction independently of the angle o1' inclination of the slats above said intermediate slat.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a blind construction including a plurality of slats supported in vertical spaced apart relation on a pair of ladder tapes having manually controlled means for simultaneously tilting all of theslats in the same general direction and provided with auxiliary tilting means whereby predetermined groups of said slats may be independently tilte Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, ease and efficiency of operation and adaptability for use with the standard Venetian blind now in general use.

With these objects in view vas well as other ob jects which will appear during the course of the speciilcation, reference will now be had to the drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is an inside elevational view of a Venetian blind mounted in a window frame embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, foreshortened, sectional view taken on line II-H of Fig. 1 with all the slats shown in the horizontal position in solid lines and a lower group of the slats shown moved to the substantially closed position in dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, sectional view taken on line III- III of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the adjustable tape clamp.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the face of the clamp shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the head bar.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view foreshortened and taken on line VII- VII of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged elevational view partly broken away of the slat tilting mechanism.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view of the lifting cord pulley and brake.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of the auxiliary tilting cord pulley and brake mechanism.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken on line XI-XI o! F18. l0.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view similar to Fis. 2 with 2 both of the auxiliary tilting cords with their attaching clamps secured to the same side of the slats.

Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic view of the operating cord system.

Fig. 14 is a modified form of the Venetian blind shown in sectional view similar to Fig. 2.

Fig. 15 is a sectional view taken on line XV- XV of Fig. 14 with the slat foreshortened.

Fig. 16 is a plan view of the head bar shown in Fig. 14.

Fig. 17 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 of a further modified form of the blind wherein the auxiliary tilting cords are outside the blind proper.

Fig. 18 is an elevational view partly broken away of the upper portion of the blind mechanism shown in Fig. 17.

Throughout the several views like reference characters refer to similar parts and the numeral 20 designates a window frame carrying lowerI sash 22 and upper sash 24.

position of the different groups of slats is found privacy, lighting and Venetian blind. A tilt bar 30 positioned in spaced relation beneath the head bar 26 is pivoted on its longitudinal axis. One end of said tilt bar is provided with a pivot 32 which is mounted in bearing 34 depending from and rigidly secured to the head bar 26 by means of screws 38. The is provided with a pin 40 extend downwardly from the tilt comprises side tapes 6| and head bar 28 cross tapes 82 on which a series oi slats 84 are supported. The lower extremities of the ladders 58 and 80 are securely attached by means of fasteners 88 to a foot bar 88 which is maintained in parallel relation with the cross tapes. Each of the slats 84 is slotted at 10 between the side tapes of each of the ladder tapes 58 and 80. The slots 10 in the series of slats adjacent the respective ladder tapes are in vertical alignment and are adapted to receive a lifting or collapsing cord 12 which is secured at its lower end by knot 14 to the foot bar 88. This collapsing cord extends vertically over a pulley 82 which is rotatively mounted in housing 84 which in turn is secured by screws 88 to the head bar. Cord 12 then extends horizontally in groove 80 formed in the thence over pulley 18 pivotally mounted in head bar 28 by means of pin 18. The free end extremity of cord 12 extends downwardly to a convenient point so that the operator may grasp the cord to raise or lower the blind. A collapsing cord 88 similar to cord 12 and operative therewith passes over the sheave 82 thence over sheave 90, also rotatively mounted in head bar 28, thence downwardly between the side tapes of ladder 80. A clamp member 8| pivoted at 83 in housing 84 is adapted to normally rest against stop pin 85 so that the cords 12 and 88 may freely move over the pulley 18. However, when it is desired to secure the blind in a raised position the operator moves the cords to engage the clamp member to move it to the cord securing position shown in Fig. 9. It will be noted that these two cords 12 and 88 are clamped together at 9| `so as to maintain them in proper relative relation whereby the slats of the blind will normally be maintained in parallel relation. It isobvious that the Venetian blind just described is the type now in general use and by operating the worm gear mechanism the tilt bar 80 may be moved to tilt all of the slats simultaneously in the same direction and through the same angle.

Since the principal object of the present invention is to provide means whereby a predetermined group of the slats may be tilted in one direction while another group is tilted relative thereto, the following tilting mechanism is provided.

Operating cords 92 and 94 extend upwardly over pulleys 98 and 98 respectively and are each bifurcated at to present tilting cords |02 and |04. Tilting cords |02 of cords 92 and 94 pass over pulley 18, thence downwardly through openings in slats 84 to respectively engage clamps |08 and |08 at opposite sides of the blind. The other set of tilting cords |04 of cords 92 and 94. extend over the sheave 90, thence downwardly to respectively engage clamps ||0 and ||2. Clamps |08 and ||0 are secured to the inside of the blind to side tapes 8| of the ladder tapes 58 and 80 respectively, and clamps |08 and ||2 are secured respectively to the outside tapes 83 of the ladder tapes 58 and 80 respectively. When so positioned with the tilting cords |02 and |04 of operating cord 92 attached in substantially horizontal alignment to the two inside tapes of the ladder tapes 58 and operating cord the slats below the point of attachment may be titled upwardly at the inside of the blind without interfering with the angle of tilt of the slats thereabove.

The clamps |08, |08, ||0 and ||2 are identical and are shown in detail'in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. A channel member ||8 having rebent ends ||4 and |18 is perforated at its opposite ends at H8 and ent groups of slats 64.

80. by pulling downwardly on said the same general tilting |20 to receive the slide bar |22. This slide bar is reduced at |24 to extend through perforation |20 and has an outturned portion |28 by means of which the bar may be manipulated. The other end of the bar is provided with a reduced tongue |28 which is adapted to be received through opening ||8. The inner wall of channel ||3 is roughened at |30 so that when the tape ladder member is positioned thereagainst and the bar |22 is moved to the securing position as shown in Fig. 3, the tape will be held against movement relative to the clamp. It will be noted that this clamp member is easily adjusted so that it may be positioned at any desired slat of the series thus making it possible to position them to tilt any de sired lower group of slats. Furthermore, the pair of clamps |06 and ||0 and the pair of clamps |08 and ||2 may be positioned at relatively different vertical levels so that a lower group of slats may be adjusted relative to the slats thereabove in one direction or a larger lower group may be adjusted in the other direction or if the lower group has been previously adjusted then those slats thereabove controlled by the other tilting cord may be tilted in the opposite direction. The channel member ||3 has a hook member ||5 to which the tilting cord is attached.

vThe pulleys 98 and 98 are rotatably mounted on shaft |32 which is secured in housing |34.

crew |38 serves to secure the housing to the head bar 28. Partition |38 serves to separate the pulleys 96 and 98 and to form separate compartments for the cords 92 and 94.` Each compartment is provided with an independently operable clamp |40 pivoted at |42 and provided with a stop pin |44 to limit its downward movement. When clamp |40 is resting against the pin |44 the operating cord is free to pass through the housing in either direction.

Referring to Fig, 12 it will be noted that the blind structure is similar to that shown in Fig. 2 and that the only change is the point of attachment of the tilting cords |02 and |04. It will be observed that both of the cords |02 are attached to the side tape 6| of the ladder tape 58 so that they are vertically spaced apart to control differ- Clamp |08 is positioned above clamp |08 so that when clamp |08 is raised by operating the cord all slats therebelow will be tilted. Likewise, when the slats are in the position shown, a vertical adjustment of clamp |08 will tilt all of the slats therebelow. Tilting cords |04 are likewise positioned relative to ladder tape to operate in like manner to cords |02. When the slats below |08 have been tilted, it is evident that the group of slats controlled by clamp |08 thereabove can be tilted in like direction as the slats therebelow without interfering with the position of the slats thereabove and therebelow.

Reference ewill now be had to the modified form shown in Figs. 17 and 18. I

The -general structure of the blind is of standard structure such as shown in the preferred form. with the same collapsing means and .also means whereby all of the slats of the blind are tilted simultaneously in the same general direction. In this modified form the auxiliary slat tilting means is positioned entirely outside the blind structure so that it may be easily attached without removing the blind from the window casing.

The cords 92 and 94 pass over pulleys 98 and 98 mounted in a structure such as shownin Figs. l0 and l1 and are each divided to present a tilting cord |02 and |04. Brackets |50 and |52 secured by means oi screws |54 to the side of head bar 26 serve instead of the roller shown in the preferred form to receive the tilting cords |02 and |04. ing cord 92 extend through the upper eyes of the members |50 and |52 and extend respectively to clamps I 08 and ||2 (not shown) secured to the tape ladders 58 and 60 to side tapes 6|. The group of slats therebelow are therefore, controllable by operating the cord 92. The tilting cords |02 and through the lower eyes of members`|50 and |52 and extend downwardly to respectively engage clamps |06 and ||0 (not shown) secured in like horizontal position on ladders 58 and 60 to side tapes 6|. 'I'he clamps |06 and ||0 are spaced above clamps |08 and ||2 to present a group of slats therebetween which are tiltable by operating cord 94. When all the slats are in the horizontal position as shown, the operator by pulling downwardly on operating cord 94, may tilt all the slats below clamp |06. Likewise, by operating cord 92, all the slats below clamp |08 will be tilted. Should the lower group be tilted by means of cord 92, it is quite apparent that the group between clamps 06 and |08 may then be tilted by operating cord 94. It will be noted that these auxiliary cords both operate to move to tilt the slats in one direction only. However, by operating the tilting bar 30 in the usual manner, various combinations of degrees of tilting of the slats of the various groups may be varied.

The modified form shown in Figs. 14, and 16 contemplates the application of my auxiliary tilting means with a standard Venetian blind wherein the lifting or collapsing cords 12 and 88 are positioned to extend vertically through side notches |60 and |62 formed in opposite edges of slats |64 and longitudinally spaced apart to respectively register with tape ladders 58 and 60.

Notches |66 are formed in the edge of the slats transversely opposite notches |60, also notches |68 are formed transversely opposite notches |62. Collapsing cord 12 is attached at its one end by means of staple |10 to the foot bar |12 and extends upwardly through the series of notches |60, thence over the roller |14 which is rotatably mounted in a notch |16 formed in the side of head plate |18. It then passes lengthwise of the head plate to pass over the roller 82, thence downwardly in like manner as shown in Fig. 13. The other collapsing cord 88 passes over the roller |80 which is rotatably mounted in notch |82 formed in the opposite edge of the head plate |18. Otherwise these collapsing cords are similar in construction to those shown in the preferred form.

The operating cords 92 and 94 each bifurcated to form tilting cords |02 and |04 are like the corresponding cords in the preferred form and in general operate in like manner. 'Iilting cords |02 and 04 of cords 92 and 94 are adapted to diierent groups of blind slats in opposite directions. 'Iilting cord |02 of cord 92 passes over pulley |84 rotatably mounted in slat notch |86, thence downwardly to engage clamp mounted on tape 6| of ladder tape 58. Likewise, tilting cord 04 of cord 92 passes over roller |80 thence downwardly to engage a clamp ||0 (not shown) which is secured to side tape 6| of ladder tape 60. These clamps |06 and ||0 are in horizontal alignment and when operated by cord 92 will raise the inner edges of the slats therebelow in like manner. The cord 94 and associated tilting cords |02 and |04 are similarly mounted as the |04 of the operating cord 94 extend The tilting cords |02 and |04 of the operatcords just described and ent groups of slats Tilting cord |02 of cord 94 passes over roller |14 rotatably mounted in slat notch |16 and ex tends downwardly to er1-gage clamp |08 which is secured to side tape 63 of ladder tape 58. 'Tiltingcord |04 of cord 94 passes over' roller |92 rotatably mounted in notch |94 formed in head plate |18 and extends downwardly to engage clamp ||2 secured to side tape 83 of tap'e ladder 60.

It will be noted that the clamp |06 engages the side tape 6| above the point where clamp |08 engages a side tape 63 of ladder tape 58. When cord 92 is pulled downwardly, all of the slats when positioned as shown in Fig. 14 and disposed below clamp |06 will be tilted in the same direction. Likewise, when cord 94 is drawn downwardly all the slats below clamp |08 will be tilted in the opposite direction. It is quite evident that by properly operating the standard titlting means, together with the auxiliary tilting means just described.v many variations in the position ofthe groups of slats may lbe obtained.

While several forms of construction and adapare adapted to tilt difiertation of this invention have been shown, however, the forms are very similar and simply show different hook-ups and adaptations for diiferent types of Venetian blinds now on the market, the principal object being to provide means independent of the present blind tilting means whereby a group or groups of slats intermediate the top and bottom of the blind may be independently or collectively tilted in the same or in different directions. When using the clamps for engaging the side tapes of the ladder tapes the points of attachment may be easily varied vertically and from one side tape to the other without altering the construction of the auxiliary tilting means. Many relative positions of the slats and groups of slats might be had without any alteration in the general construction of the tilting apparatus.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent ist 1. In a Venetian blind construction including a plurality of slats supported in vertically spaced relation on a. pair of ladder tapes and having manually controlled means for simultaneously tilting all of the slats in the same direction, and manually controlled means including cords extending through the upper slats and attached to the inner sides of said ladder tapes adjacent the slat below the lowest slat through which they pass and operable whereby a lower group of the slats are independently tiltable.

2. In a Venetian blind construction including a plurality of slats supported in vertically spaced relation on a pair of ladder tapes and having manually controlled means for simultaneously tilting all of the slats in the same direction, manually controlled means operable to tilt a lower group of the slats in one general direction, and another manually controlled means operable to tilt an intermediate group of the slats in the opposite'general direction.

3. In a. Venetian blind construction including a plurality of slats supported in vertically spaced relation on a pair of ladder tapes and having manually controlled means for simultaneously tilting al1 oi' the slats in the same direction, manually controlled means operable to tilt a lower group of the slats in one general direcin the opposite direction.`

tiltable to any desired degree eral direction independently above.

4. In a Venetian blind construction including a plurality of slats freely supported on a pair of ladder tapes and having means for simultaneously tilting all of said slats in the lsame direction; means including a pair of cords secured respectively to the side tapes of one o! said ladder tapes at opposite sides of one of the intermediate slats and extending upwardly over bearing mem bers whereby when said cords are operated all the slats below said point of attachment may be ad- :lusted to any desired tilting angle independently of the tilting angle of the slats positioned thereabove.

5. In a Ven tian blind construction including a plurality of slats supported on a pair or ladder tapes and having means for simultaneously tilting all of said slats in the same direction: means including a pair of pliable members attached respectively to the side tapes of one oi said ladder tapes adjacent one oi the intermediate slats and extending upwardly to adjacent the top of said blind, and manually adjustable means operable to selectively move said pliable members whereby the slats below said intermediate slat are tilted to any desired angle independently of the angie of the slats above said intermediate slat.

6. In a Venetian blind construction including a plurality of slats supported on a pair of ladder tapes and having manually controlled means for simultaneously tilting al1 o! said slats in the same direction; means including a pair of pliable members adjustably attached respectively to the side tapes of one of said ladder tapes adjacent one of the intermediate slats and extending upwardly to adjacent the top of said blind, and man ually adjustable means operable to move said pliable members whereby the slats below said intermediate slat are tilted to any desired angle independently of the angle of the slats above said intermediate slat.

7. In a Venetian blind construction including a plurality oi slats supported on a pair oi.' ladder tapes and having manually controlled means for simultaneously tilting all o! said slats in tbe same direction: means including a pair of pliable meinbers adiustably attached respectively to the side tapes o! one ci said ladder tapes adiacent one ci tbe intermediate slats and extending upwardly to adjacent the top oi said blind. manually adiustable means operable to move said pliable members whereby the slats below said intermediate slat are tilted to lany desired angleindependently o! the angle oi the slats above said intermediate slat, and clamping means to secure said pliable members to the side tapes against accidental movement.

8. A Venetian blind construction comprising a. pair or spaced ladder tapes each ladder tape comprising a pair o! supporting tapes having cross tapes therebetween, -a series ot slats iointly supported by said ladder tapes and a pair o! lifting cords providing means ior eilecting collapse o! the Venetian blind structure. a rocker member operable to vary the angle oi all of said slats, a pair oi cords secured at their one end at ppposite sides oi an intermediate slat to said ladder tapes and extending to the top of said blind whereby as said cords are operated the slats disposed below the slat adjacent said securing points may be tilted independently oi the slats thereabove.

ROY E. GEARHART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are o! record in the ille oi. this patenti 'UNITED STATES PATENTS 

